Waiting on Wednesday: Newt's Emerald by Garth Nix {105}

Title: Newt's Emerald
Author: Garth Nix
Release date: October 13, 2015

Lady Truthful will inherit her family’s most valued heirloom on her eighteenth birthday. Until the Newington Emerald is stolen.

Lady Truthful, nicknamed “Newt” by her boy cousins, discovers that to her horror, the people closest to her have been framed for the theft. But Newt won’t let their reputations be damaged by rumors from a false accusation. Her plan is simple: go to London to recover the missing jewel. Despite her best intentions, a young lady travelling alone is frankly unacceptable behavior. So Newt and her aunt devise another plan…one that entails men’s clothing and a mustache.

While in disguise, Truthful encounters the handsome but shrewd major Harnett, who to her amazement volunteers to help find the missing emerald under the assumption that she is a man, Henri de Vienne. But once she and her unsuspecting ally are caught up in a dangerous adventure, Truthful realizes something else is afoot: the beating of her heart.

Truthful has far more than romantic complications to worry about. The stolen emerald is no ordinary heirloom-it is the source of the family’s luck and has the power to yield vast magic. It would be completely disastrous if it fell into the wrong hands. The fate of England depends on Truthful securing the emerald.

I really can't handle how wonderful this sounds! I looove Garth Nix, though I've not read most of his newer books--this will change that, however, because I'll read it as soon as I possibly can! :D

 So what are you guys waiting on this week? :)

Teaser Tuesday: A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis {125}

Title: A Madness So Discreet
Author: Mindy McGinnis

Release date: October 6, 2015

Grace Mae knows madness.

She keeps it locked away, along with her voice, trapped deep inside a brilliant mind that cannot forget horrific family secrets. Those secrets, along with the bulge in her belly, land her in a Boston insane asylum.

When her voice returns in a burst of violence, Grace is banished to the dark cellars, where her mind is discovered by a visiting doctor who dabbles in the new study of criminal psychology. With her keen eyes and sharp memory, Grace will make the perfect assistant at crime scenes. Escaping from Boston to the safety of an ethical Ohio asylum, Grace finds friendship and hope, hints of a life she should have had. But gruesome nights bring Grace and the doctor into the circle of a killer who stalks young women. Grace, continuing to operate under the cloak of madness, must hunt a murderer while she confronts the demons in her own past.

In this beautifully twisted historical thriller, Mindy McGinnis, acclaimed author of Not a Drop to Drink and In a Handful of Dust, explores the fine line between sanity and insanity, good and evil—and the madness that exists in all of us.

My teaser, from 1% in the egalley:

They all had their terrors.

The new girl believed that spiders lived in her veins.

Her screams sliced through the darkness, passing through the thin walls of Grace's cell and filling her brain with another's misery to add the pressures of her own. Grace pulled her pillow tight over her ears, ignoring the feather shafts that poked through the cheap muslin and pricked her skin. On the other side of the wall she could hear Mrs. Clay shifting in her bed, sleep stolen from both patients by the new girl, who hadn't learned yet that screaming didn't bring help.

I haven't read Mindy's other books, but I loooove the sound of this--and read those first lines! They're so creepy, I love it. :D

I'll be visiting around and visiting back, so leave me links to your teasers! :) Happy Tuesday!

Blog Tour: This Monstrous Thing by Mackenzi Lee {Review + Playlist + Giveaway}

Release date: September 22, 2015
Author info: Website | Twitter | Facebook
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Pages: 384
Format: Egalley
Source: Publisher provided for review through Edelweiss

In 1818 Geneva, men built with clockwork parts live hidden away from society, cared for only by illegal mechanics called Shadow Boys. Two years ago, Shadow Boy Alasdair Finch’s life shattered to bits.

His brother, Oliver—dead.

His sweetheart, Mary—gone.

His chance to break free of Geneva—lost.

Heart-broken and desperate, Alasdair does the unthinkable: He brings Oliver back from the dead.

But putting back together a broken life is more difficult than mending bones and adding clockwork pieces. Oliver returns more monster than man, and Alasdair’s horror further damages the already troubled relationship.

Then comes the publication of Frankenstein and the city intensifies its search for Shadow Boys, aiming to discover the real life doctor and his monster. Alasdair finds refuge with his idol, the brilliant Dr. Geisler, who may offer him a way to escape the dangerous present and his guilt-ridden past, but at a horrible price only Oliver can pay…

I admit, despite being relatively well read in classics, I haven't read Frankenstein. And most of what I know of the story is from pop culture references, not any true knowledge, so I can't speak to how truthful This Monstrous Thing is in that sense. But, to my mind, Mackenzi Lee shines in reworking a story we're all relatively familiar with and breathing new life and sympathy into its characters--while also inspiring readers to seek out the original for themselves. I know I was left satisfied by the story, but desperate to experience Frankenstein for myself.

This Monstrous Thing spends a lot of time mulling over the definition of monster, and rightly so. Alasdair considers what he's done to Oliver to be monstrous--and hates to admit it, but considers Oliver himself monstrous at times. Society believes those with clockwork parts to be monsters. The clockwork people in turn think society is monstrous for its close-mindedness. Oliver thinks himself a monster. And who is to define that? Those who seem to be good are shown to be cowardly, and those who seem monstrous are the most gentle. Never is the world black and white, and to believe something so simple as a piece of a machine changes a person's very nature is preposterous. 

While Mary Shelley, Frankenstein's author, plays a large part in This Monstrous Thing, it's really Alasdair and Oliver's story. It's Alasdair's love for Oliver that leads to his decision, not a desire to prove anything or change the world--just his fear at losing the person he loves most in the world. And that mix of love and desperation fill the story. He made a decision he has to live with, but he deals with the consequences every day. It's guilt, certainly, but who could blame him? If you lost someone you loved and had the ability to bring them back, wouldn't you? 

This Monstrous Thing is at once a thrilling read and a strong rumination. It never slackens in pace or stops you thinking. And it left me wholly satisfied, but dying to read its inspiration.

Anyone who has seen my playlists before knows they tend toward music that fits the mood of a book, more than anything else. I listen to music while I read most of the time and it's always themed to the book itself. So this is a reading playlist, list while you read This Monstrous Thing and you won't be disappointed! :D

Follow the This Monstrous Thing blog tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

Mackenzi Lee holds a BA in history and an MFA from Simmons College in writing for children and young adults. She loves Diet Coke, sweater weather, and Star Wars. On a perfect day, she can be found enjoying all three. She currently lives in Boston, where she works as a bookseller and almost never reanimates corpses. Almost.

Blog Tour Prize Pack (US ONLY):

One winner will receive...

A hardcover copy of THIS MONSTROUS THING 

A pair of Frankenstein socks

A copy of the Color Your Own Graphic Novel Frankenstein

THIS MONSTROUS THING postcards, bookmarks, and buttons

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Stacking the Shelves {132}

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews where we get to share the books we've bought, been gifted, or received for review!

How was everybody's week? How have y'all been in general? I certainly haven't been around, eh? But I'm back! Though I'm off on Friday for nearly a week for a trip to Disney. There will be posts (maybe not a STS, though?) scheduled, though. I knew this STS would be pretty intense, but I don't think I knew just how intense! It's a lot of books... Take a breath and be ready! Luckily, this is several week's worth...

For review:

And West is West by Ron Childress
Eleanor by Jason Gurley
The Doldrums by Nicholas Gannon
Behind the Canvas by Alexander Vance
These Vicious Masks by Tarun Shanker
Love, Lies and Spies by Cindy Anstey
I See Reality edited by Grace Kendall
Stone Field by Christy Lenzi

Purchased:

Lair of Dreams (The Diviners #2) by Libba Bray
The Diviners by Libba Bray
Dead to Me by Mary McCoy
Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman
The Dark Unwinding by Sharon Cameron

Traded:

Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke (Prisoner of Night and Fog #2) by Anne Blankman
Starflight by Melissa Landers

Gifted:

Revenge and the Wild by Michelle Modesto
The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry

A recap of the week here on Paper Cuts:
Nothing, but that'll change this week! :D

Books I read this week:
Lair of Dreams (The Diviners #2) by Libba Bray
Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass #4) by Sarah J. Maas
Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson

I'm currently reading:
This Monstrous Thing by Mackenzi Lee

So that's been my week! I kind of think I disappeared because work got a little bit hectic for a while and I was coming home exhausted, so there was no motivation. I'm alll caught up now, though! :) Have a lovely Sunday and a fabulous week!

Daughter of Dusk Giveaway

I'm popping in today to share with y'all an amazing giveaway that Livia Blackburne's got going on (and that's ending today, so get to entering!) to celebrate her recent release of Daughter of Dusk, the sequel to Midnight Thief! I so enjoyed Midnight Thief last year and am terribly excited to get on to reading Daughter of Dusk.

Lucky for y'all, Livia's got this giveaway, which would be a fun way to get started, OR you could be impatient (which you should) and hop on over and get yourself the ebook of Midnight Thief, which is just 99 cents right now! (YES, you read that right--99 cents!) So what could possibly be stopping you??

Get it here: Kindle | Nook | Kobo | iBooks | Google Play

Included in this INTERNATIONAL giveaway are:

• Audiobook of Midnight Thief
• Annotated paperback of Poison Dance, the Midnight Thief prequel novella
• Early draft of DoD with Livia's editorial notes
• Assorted signed swag

You know you want it! Or I know I do, at least. :)

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An Unexpected Hiatus

Well, hi! It's been a little while since I posted, eh? That wasn't something I anticipated or planned, but I hit a moment at some point where I couldn't muster the energy to post. So I didn't. I've taken that view on blogging recently, that it is technically a hobby--not a chore--so if I don't want to write a post, I just don't. It makes for fewer posts, but I think it's rather a healthy mindset. There's no real burnout, and I think my posts are of better quality.

But, I'm going to be back! For the next few days, at least through Sunday but maybe another week on top of that (with a big ole' STS!), I'm going to be scheduling posts, which means I can keep up with comments! (My biggest, biggest problem.) Working full time in retail is a lot of work, y'all, and I just didn't anticipate being as tired as I am. I'm going to have to change the way I blog, which should be interesting!

I just wanted to stop in and tell y'all I'm not dead, and I'll be back--promise! :D